The present invention relates in general to controlling DC to DC power converters and more specifically to a circuit design for a single-chip, high-voltage integrated circuit which allows the same chip to be used in essentially all of the most popular power-supply topologies.
DC switching converter power supplies typically are used in such applications as computers, television receivers and electronic lamp ballasts for providing one or more regulated DC voltages. Several types of DC switching converters are employed including forward, flyback and resonant circuit configurations which may be controlled by pulse-width modulation (PWM), by frequency control or by current mode control.
A variety of integrated circuits (ICs) for controlling DC switching converters are available, but none contain the gate driver circuits within the IC itself. Therefore, dedicated drivers are employed using discrete parts, sometimes including coupling transformers, which may be both bulky and expensive. Some of the circuit topologies have not been implemented on ICs at all. Furthermore, none of the presently available control chips may be used in all of the configurations mentioned above.
High voltage integrated circuit (HVIC) technology which accommodates both high and low voltages on a single integrated circuit chip has been employed in a driver circuit for a half-bridge converter. Thus, both a ground referenced switch (or lower switch) and a non-ground referenced switch (or upper switch) may be driven from a single integrated circuit.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to reduce the cost of DC power supplies by providing a universal control chip adapted for high volume production.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power-supply control chip containing high voltage gate drivers and a universal control circuit.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a circuit design for a single-chip integrated circuit for driving the converter switches of and controlling at least one output voltage of a DC to DC converter which minimizes chip size by making multiple use of control circuit elements for different converter topologies.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a power package for operating essentially all of the popular DC to DC converter topologies in either a single-ended or a half-bridge configuration and at a wide variety of power levels.